TuTh 4:00-5:15pm
We will begin with several Greek plays, including The Oresteia, The
Theban Plays, Medea, and Lysistrata. We will see what Plato has to
say about the “just society” in The Republic, and we will read
selections from The Bible, including The Book of Job, and The
Gospel According to Matthew. We will accompany Aeneas in his great
journey through Virgil’s Aeneid, and we will accompany Dante and
Virgil on their great journey in The Inferno.
Shakespeare will provide us with three visions of “justice” and
the “just society” in Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, and
King Lear.
Throughout the semester we will be considering such questions as:
What is the relationship between “fate” and “free will”?
What constitutes a “just society”? A “just person”?
Is a certain amount of injustice and unfairness inevitable?